Hello, friends, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. Today I want to talk about one of the most heartbreaking stories in Christian history—a story that still makes me sad every time I think about it.
It's about a missed opportunity. An opportunity so massive that if the Church had seized it, the entire map of world Christianity might look completely different today. Asia might be predominantly Christian. Buddhism might never have taken the hold it has. And billions of people throughout history might have heard the Gospel who never did.
Friends, this is the story of what happened when Kublai Khan asked for missionaries—and the Catholic Church said no.
[Setting the stage - the Mongol Empire's unprecedented reach]
While homeschooling my children, I came across an article by Scott W. Sundquist entitled "Asian Christianity," and I was deeply saddened by what I learned.
In the 13th century, when Genghis Khan ruled, the Mongol Empire stretched from China to Central Europe—a kingdom larger even than those of Alexander the Great and the Roman Caesars. It covered all of Asia, Indochina, and even Eastern Europe. Friends, no nation has yet rivaled the magnitude of the Mongolian Empire! This was the largest contiguous land empire in all of human history.
[Kublai Khan - a ruler open to Christianity]
Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan, ruled when the Mongol Empire had reached its limit. It could not expand any farther, so Kublai concentrated on maintaining peace within his borders and consolidating his vast territory. And here's what's crucial: Kublai had a mother who was a Christian. He had been exposed to Christianity from childhood!
When Marco Polo journeyed to China between 1271 and 1295, he found evidence of Christian communities already there—remnants of earlier Nestorian missionary efforts. Marco Polo served in the court of Kublai Khan and became the Khan's trusted friend. Through their friendship and conversations, Kublai became genuinely interested in Christianity.
[The request - 100 missionaries wanted]
And then Kublai Khan did something extraordinary. He specifically requested from Pope Gregory X that 100 missionaries be sent to the Mongol Empire to teach himself and his people about the Christian faith. Think about that for a moment, friends! The ruler of the largest empire the world had ever seen was asking—requesting, inviting, begging—for Christian missionaries to come teach him and his people about Jesus!
This wasn't a resistant people group that might cause the Christian missionaries to face persecution and martyrdom. This wasn't a closed country where missionaries had to sneak in under the cover of darkness. This was an open invitation from the most powerful ruler on earth to bring the Gospel to hundreds of millions of people!
[The tragic response - defending instead of extending]
So what happened? Sadly and regretfully, the request was never fulfilled. Why? Because the Popes in Europe were more concerned about defending themselves militarily than they were interested in extending the Gospel spiritually. They were worried about political conflicts in Europe, about maintaining their own power, about military threats closer to home.
Friends, this may be one of the greatest lost missionary opportunities of all time! And it breaks my heart every time I think about it.
[What could have been - imagining obedience]
If I had been Pope Gregory X—and I know that's easy to say from the comfort of my home centuries later—but if I had been him, I would have immediately fulfilled that request! He was in charge of the vast Christian Church. Popes had been able to stir up huge support for the Crusades in the past, sending thousands of men, and even children, to fight in the Middle East. Surely he could have found 100 monks who were willing to go to Asia to share the Gospel of Christ!
God was opening a door of opportunity for Christianity to spread to the largest empire the world had ever seen through a man whose mother was a Christian. Think about what could have happened! Look at how God used one monk, St. Patrick, to convert Ireland. Or Columba to convert Scotland. What could have been done with 100 monks who were requested specifically by the Mongol leader himself?
[What actually happened - Buddhism fills the void]
Instead, here's what happened. It was during the time of the Great Khans that the Tibetan form of Buddhism gained influence in Mongolia. Without Christianity filling that spiritual vacuum, Buddhism became the predominant religion in the Mongolian territories. The very space that could have been filled with the Gospel was filled with another religion instead.
For centuries, Mongolia remained firmly Buddhist. Even today, though there are some Christians and Mongolia doesn't persecute them, Buddhism is still the predominant religion. Many Mongolians firmly believe that Buddhism is the only true religion, partly as a reaction to later Christian missionary efforts that came much too late.
[The ripple effects - Asia's spiritual landscape]
Think about the ripple effects of this missed opportunity! If Christianity had been the religion that Kublai Khan and his followers embraced, Mongolia and possibly other countries in Asia today might be predominantly Christian. Christianity might have swept across Asia the way it did across Europe in the centuries before.
The strongholds of Buddhism, Islam, and later Communism in Asia might never have gained the foothold they did if Christianity had been the predominant religion established under Kublai Khan's rule. We can't know for certain what would have happened, but we do know what didn't happen—and that's heartbreaking.
[Biblical foundation - open doors must be walked through]
This is a huge lesson for the Christian Church today, and it's rooted in Scripture. In Colossians 4:3, Paul asks for prayer "that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ." God opens doors! And when He does, we must walk through them!
In Revelation 3:8, Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia, "See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." Friends, God places open doors before us. But we have to actually walk through them! An open door means nothing if we're too afraid, too distracted, or too comfortable to step through it.
[The lesson for us - don't miss God's open doors]
So here's the lesson: We must take every opportunity given to us to share the Gospel with those who are lost, no matter their religion, their location, or their culture. When God opens a door, we cannot let fear, politics, comfort, or distraction keep us from walking through it.
Think about the opportunities we've had in recent history. After the fall of the Soviet Union, there was an incredible openness to the Gospel in Russia and Eastern Europe. Many missionaries went, but did we send enough? Did we seize that opportunity fully? After the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, there were windows of access to reach people in those nations. Did the American Church—a nation with enormous resources and Christian heritage—send the "100 missionaries" to share the love of Jesus? Or were we, like the Popes of old, more concerned about defending ourselves militarily than we were interested in extending the Gospel spiritually?
[Current opportunities - where are today's open doors?]
Friends, there are open doors right now that we need to walk through! According to recent mission research, there are still over 7,000 unreached people groups representing 3.4 billion people. But some of those groups are more open than others. Some are asking for help, asking for education, asking for development—and those requests are open doors for the Gospel!
Chinese students are flooding into Western universities—that's an open door! Refugees from closed countries are being resettled in American cities—that's an open door! Digital technology allows us to reach people in closed countries through the internet—that's an open door! God is still opening doors. The question is: Will we walk through them this time?
[Mongolia today - God's redemptive work]
Now, I want to end with some encouraging news, because friends, even though the Church missed that opportunity in the 13th century, God is still at work in Mongolia today! And this is a beautiful reminder that while we can miss opportunities, God's purposes will ultimately prevail.
For most of the 20th century, Mongolia was under Communist rule and virtually closed to Christianity. There were essentially zero known Christians in Mongolia by 1989. But after the collapse of Communism in 1990, something remarkable began to happen. Missionaries were finally able to enter Mongolia, and the Gospel began to spread!
[The modern Mongolian revival - unprecedented growth]
According to recent reports from organizations like OMF International and Joshua Project, Christianity has experienced explosive growth in Mongolia over the past three decades. From zero believers in 1989, there are now estimated to be over 80,000 Christians in Mongolia—and some estimates suggest even more!
Hundreds of churches have been planted across the country. Mongolian believers are translating the Bible, writing worship songs in their own language, and even sending out their own missionaries to other nations! The Mongolian church is young, vibrant, and growing rapidly, particularly among young people in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.
Friends, God didn't give up on Mongolia! Even though the Church missed that incredible opportunity in Kublai Khan's time, God has been faithful to open another door—and this time, missionaries walked through it!
[Five lessons from the Mongol opportunity]
Let me share five critical lessons from this story. First, open doors don't stay open forever. Kublai Khan's invitation was a limited-time opportunity. When he died and his successors chose Buddhism, that door closed. We must act when God opens doors, not assume they'll always be available.
Second, political concerns should never overshadow Gospel opportunities. The Popes were worried about European conflicts and military defense. Those seemed important at the time. But from an eternal perspective, what mattered more—a political squabble in Europe or the evangelization of the world's largest empire? Third, one generation's missed opportunity can affect many generations. Because the Church didn't go to Mongolia in the 1200s, millions of people throughout subsequent centuries never heard the Gospel. Our obedience or disobedience has ripple effects we can't fully see.
Fourth, God's purposes will ultimately prevail even when we fail. The Church missed the opportunity with Kublai Khan, but God is still reaching Mongolia today! Our failures don't stop God, but they do delay His work and cause unnecessary suffering. And fifth, we must constantly ask: What doors is God opening right now that we're missing? We can't change history, but we can learn from it!
[Personal application - examining our priorities]
So friends, let me ask you: What opportunities is God placing before you right now? Is there an international student in your city you could befriend? Is there a refugee family you could serve? Is there a people group God is calling you to pray for or support financially? Is there a mission trip you've been putting off?
Don't let comfort, fear, or distraction cause you to miss God's open doors! Don't let future generations look back at our time and say, "If only they had walked through the doors God opened for them, millions more would know Jesus today."
Let me pray:
Thank you for joining me today, friends. This story both breaks my heart and challenges me. Let's not be the generation that history looks back on with regret. Let's be the generation that walked through every door God opened.
"Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations and walk through every door God opens before it closes."
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